San Marcos candidates make pitch at forum

SAN MARCOS — Four candidates vying for two seats on the San Marcos City Council stated their case for election Thursday night during a public forum at City Hall.

The four are Rebecca Jones, seeking a second four-year term on the council; Sharon Jenkins, a longtime board member of the San Marcos Unified School District; Mike Hansen, a store manager at Turner’s Outdoorsman; and Samuel Ekard, an electronics technician at Machine Vision Products.

They fielded questions on everything from San Marcos’ loss of redevelopment funds, to spurring economic development to the city’s sometimes testy relationship with the local water district.

Jones said if re-elected she plans to build on the suburban city’s balanced budgets and its efforts to create a business- and customer-friendly atmosphere.

“We are more inclusive than we’ve ever been,” Jones told a crowd of about 50 people, adding that the city was working to streamline its permit process and reviewing all its fees.

The candidates, including Jones, were mostly at a loss as to how to make up for the city’s loss of redevelopment revenue, a change that’s expected to slow plans for the urban Creek and University district neighborhoods.

The incumbent stressed seeking grants to pay for future improvements in the city, home to about 85,000 people.

Jenkins, who is serving her fourth term on the school board, said she “would be famous” if she knew how to solve the funding conundrum. San Marcos has used redevelopment funds to pay for neighborhood improvement projects to a greater degree than surrounding cities.

“I don’t think we have an answer yet as to how we’re going to deal with the redevelopment funds, or the loss of redevelopment funds,” she said.

Eckard offered the most dramatic solution among the candidates, saying “the Creekside (District) should be shelved.” He said the city shouldn’t spend its limited resources paving the way for a neighborhood full of homes, stores and restaurants when it needs to “improve our (existing) roads, which are being ignored.”

On making San Marcos more business friendly, Hansen said the city must not only present customers with a road map through its development permit process, but also consolidate that process.

“We should be their partner, not their enemy,” he said of business applicants.

The city’s sometimes strained relationship with the Vallecitos Water District was a large part of Thursday’s forum. Pro-growth supporters have criticized the district for stymieing development with large sewer and water fees, while water officials say they are simply charging developers the cost it takes to support new growth.

On working closer with the water district, Jones, the council incumbent, said it was “imperative” that the two agencies work well together. She added that both should listen to feedback from each other.

“We should be working as a team,” added Hansen. “We live in a desert. We don’t want to lose our water supply.”

Candidates for the San Marcos Unified School District Board and the water board also spoke at the event. Water board incumbents Timothy Shell and Darrell Gentry, a former city councilman, defended the agency against attacks from challengers Hal Martin, and Betty Evans, both of whom said the agency had a closed-door culture and hadn’t done enough to slow rate increases.

“We’re on the right path (fiscally),” Gentry said, citing recent positive credit rating designations. “I’m an independent voice. I’m not part of the developer-led cronyism that’s trying to take over the Vallecitos Water District Board.”

Martin, who terms out this year after 16 years on the City Council, and Evans, a former schoolteacher and city councilwoman, said their goal was to slow rate increases and make the agency transparent. They have no “city takeover” plans, calling the suggestion by the incumbents a “scare tactic,” Martin said.

Michael Hunsaker, a self-described citizen advocate, also made pitch for the water board, saying it needs to create more reservoirs to store water. He added that there’s always going to be a natural “friction” between the city and water agency.

The event was hosted by the San Marcos Chamber of Commerce, and moderated by U-T San Diego columnist Logan Jenkins.